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The Plague Of The Black Death

Satisfactory Essays

Throughout human history there have been a few events that have caused devastation

and irreversibly changed the course of history. These events were triggered not by humans,

but by plagues. Plagues, defined as an epidemic with an amazingly high mortality rate

according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, have been recorded throughout history, from

the Plague of Justinian in Rome, to the Modern Plague of China (CDC). To the common

man, all s/he sees is, the plague arrives, kills tens of millions of people, and then disappears

into the night. In reality, the plague does not disappear quietly. The outbreak of a plague

leaves a lasting legacy on Earth, contributing to how the world map is currently defined. To

demonstrate how plagues have affected the world, we will examine the symptoms of the two

best examples of history-changing plagues, the Black Death and smallpox. Through these two

plagues, one can fully understand how plagues have influenced history.

The Black Death was the second major disease to break out in world and has since

become one of the most infamous plagues in history for its effects and symptoms. Contrary to

popular belief, the Black Death was not one, but four strains that built off of the same virus.

The most famous strain is the bubonic plague which is perhaps best characterized by the

swellings over the lymph nodes that have been called buboes. However this symptom of the

bubonic plague, and only comes later on in the viral

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